Editorial

JoSTrans’s tenth anniversary celebrations have taken place this autumn. They have given the small team that built and nurtures the journal an opportunity to reflect on how Translation Studies has evolved in the last ten years and how JoSTrans stands in the translation publication landscape. Quantitatively, the expansion has been remarkable. From a handful of translation-related journals at the beginning of the millennium (and only two open-access, bravely lead by the e-zine Translation Journal since 1997), dozens are available now, with either a full or partial open-access service. This trend is in line with the general development of publication, and particularly online open-access publication, which, according to the Directory of Open Access Journals’ statistics has grown from 300 journals in 2003 to 10027 in December 2013.¹

JoSTrans has developed spectacularly since its first issue in 2004. The first available statistics of pages accessed, in July 2005 reached 1,403. Last October, they peaked at 105,664 and their growth has been steady.

Yet this spectacular development is not only quantitative. As Paul Ricœur points out, translation develops from the necessity of communication, but also, from “the desire to translate”² and to share information about translation. Every journal is born and develops with key objectives to prioritise. Throughout the last decade, Jostrans’s have been three-fold: to disseminate reliable and stimulating information widely; to serve as a forum for original ideas in Translation Studies across continents, countries as well as across scholarly and professional communities; finally to focus on professional aspect of translation. Wide access has always been at the heart of its mission. Scholars, translators and students from countries where resources are not always easily available such as Pakistan, Romania, Latvia and the Russian Federation constitute a sizeable audience, alongside other countries. Peer-reviewed articles by established scholars and new voices appear alongside video interviews. The latter provide a testimony of how attitudes to translation, conditions in the profession, translation technologies and many other fast-developing features of the discipline evolve. Focussing on professional aspects of translation is part of JoSTrans’s identity, and represented in this 21st issue. Articles from seven countries in two languages on medical translation (Køhler, Karwarcka), scientific translation (Shuttleworth, Tsai), localisation (Torres de Rey), audiovisual translation (Zarate, Rica Peromingo) and transcultural issues (Le Poder, Comitre and Valverde) reflect this variety. They are complemented by three interviews about terminology, EU translation and media translation.

Lucile Desblache

Note 1:
See http://www.doaj.org/
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Note 2:
Paul Ricœur(2004) Sur la traduction. Paris: Bayard, p. 38.
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